


King Park

by Sara_Darling



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: All of the newsies except for jack and race are mentioned only once, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Character Death, Gangs, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Les is shot, Non-Graphic Violence, Sad Ending, Song Lyrics, Songfic, la dispute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 04:30:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12403089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sara_Darling/pseuds/Sara_Darling
Summary: Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?-Based on the song King Park by La Dispute.





	King Park

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this idea has been stuck in my head for days. I finally got around to writing it on the plane last night. It's my first Newsies work that I'm publishing so I hope y'all enjoy it. Also, listen to the song if you haven't. It's so sad. Oh, and the song has an open ending so that's how I made the fic.

Oscar and Morris Delancey were monsters with no moral compass. Killing man, woman, and child alike.  


Jack Kelly wouldn’t stand for it on his turf. 

Les Jacobs was nine, ten if you asked him. If the day allowed for it- and his mother agreed, his big brother would bring him to the park by the house after school. Davey would pretend to be a monster chasing after Les. 

They didn’t notice the two men standing three feet to their left. 

Racetrack grips the wheel tightly. Jack is ready in the passenger seat. The gun is heavy in his hand. It’s what the Delancey brothers deserve. He leans out the window.

Les is in front Davey, avoiding his long arms. Then he’s falling, pitching to the side.

Three shots. Pop. Pop. Pop.

Jack misses his target. Racetrack slams the gas. 

(They're just kids. Racetrack is dealing cards at the kitchen table. They play poker for pretzel sticks. Chocolate, if Jack’s Aunt Medda has it.)

(Spot has bruised and bloody knuckles. He shouts when Kid Blink beats him at Scrabble for the fourth time that night.)

(Crutchie and Mush show Albert how to do his Algebra homework. Specs helps Elmer with his English.)

There’s blood in Davies hair, across his face. Les is sprawled awkwardly on his side.

A siren screams in the distance.

People gather around them. Gossiping about whose kid got hit and where it hit him. Who could have fired it?

They hang police tap. Place a tarp over his body. The blood spills out onto the concrete.

Esther Jacobs runs down the street. She is relieved. Then she is not. 

Three days later, they make funeral plans. Three days later, she has to bury her son.

He runs. Abandons his turf, his crew. Jack Kelly is no coward. But he runs.

Racetrack brings them to a hotel off the highway. Jack stays in the room with the gun. That same gun. 

He’s identified by witnesses. His picture’s on T.V. 

They can’t stay.

(Jack’s older than the others by a year. Maybe two. They call him grandpa.)

Racetrack is caught while loading the van. Jack runs back up the stairwell. The door slams. 

He still has the gun. They could kick in the door, but they fear what he’ll do.

Medda’s half collapsed to the floor. She sings of hope and forgiveness. Begs him to open the door. Tells him there’s always a chance to rectify what you’ve taken. Make your peace with the world.

She feels like her world is collapsing. 

Then they hear him speak.

“Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself? Can I ever be forgiven ‘cause I killed that kid? It was an accident I swear, it wasn’t meant for him. But if I turn it on me- if I even I out- can I still get in? Or will they send me to hell? Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?”

The burden of murder shakes the earth to its core.


End file.
